Irish UFC champion Conor McGregor is back down to one belt after the UFC officially confirmed the decision to strip him of the featherweight title today.
McGregor became the first man to hold two belts in different weight divisions earlier this month, but his reign as featherweight champion is now officially ended.
He hasn’t defended that title in 11 months and with McGregor unlikely to fight again until the mid part of next year, the UFC has ruled that the featherweight belt should be passed to someone else.
“Conor has to defend his title or make a decision to give it up—or whatever he wants to do. I’ve got to sit down and see what’s next,” said UFC President Dana White regarding the belt in August.
To defend both belts McGregor would have needed to take on a significantly bigger fight load and jump back and forth between weight divisions, something that was never likely to be sustainable.
Still, McGregor can certainly be a bit of wildcard and if he feels aggrieved may do something unexpected, like his shock ‘retirement’ that saw him vacate the card for UFC200.
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Jose Aldo will now become the undisputed holder of the title. McGregor will of course retain the lightweight belt, which he won against Eddie Alvarez at UFC 205.
Anthony Pettis vs Max Holloway has been officially promoted to main event status at UFC206, after the planned light heavyweight title fight between Daniel Cormeir and Anthony Johnson was put on hold due to Cormeir suffering an injury.
The Pettis versus Holloway fight will be a battle for the interim featherweight title, set to take place in Toronto on December 11 (AEDT).